Newsweek Cover: Hit the Road Barack

Newsweek magazine is targeting its latest controversial cover at the Obama administration. It’s part of a devastating story written by esteemed British historian Niall Ferguson telling President Obama that it’s time to go and that the only team that can possibly turn the country around is the Romney-Ryan ticket.

“In his inaugural address, Obama promised ‘not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.’” Ferguson writes in the cover story, “Hit the Road, Barack: Why We Need a New President.”

“He promised to ‘build the roads and bridges, the electric grids, and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.’ He promised to ‘restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost.’” wrote Ferguson, who made some of the same arguments in a March 2012 Newsmax cover story, "Decision Time." “And he promised to ‘transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.’ Unfortunately the president’s scorecard on every single one of those bold pledges is pitiful.”

“Welcome to Obama’s America: nearly half the population is not represented on a taxable return—almost exactly the same proportion that lives in a household where at least one member receives some type of government benefit,” Ferguson writes. “We are becoming the 50–50 nation—half of us paying the taxes, the other half receiving the benefits.”

In all, it’s an uncharacteristically conservative piece for the magazine, which previously has had cover stories celebrating Obama as “the first gay president” for his stand on gay marriage, and has offered lengthy defenses for another four years. Since Tina Brown's Daily Beast took over Newsweek, which recently said it will soon cease print publication, the magazine has been one of the most left-leaning publications in the country.